A New Friend? Or a New Threat?
by BlueWolf123
Summary: Guardian Force, set after episode 67. Rated for swearing and mild violence descriptions. READ IT OR EAT IT PEOPLE! no, actually, READ IT OR I'LL EAT YOU! Pairings: Van/Fiona, Irvine/Moonbay, Reese/Raven, Thomas/OC. No, seriously, I will eat you.
1. Chapter 1

**The title sucks, ignore it.**

**Disclaimer: Except for the original character introduced later on, I own nothing, poor me :(**

Chapter 1

"Damn it, stupid military," Irvine cursed as he approached the base. He knew that his being summoned here wasn't for nothing. The Guardian Force had managed to get a hold of him and there just had to be something they wanted from him. He wasn't part of it anyway, so why didn't they leave him alone?

As his Lightning Saix stopped at the gate, Van's face came up on the screen.

"Hey Irvine, long time no see."

"Yeah, but you know the life of a mercenary, I'm always looking for the next big score."

"Heh, I figured, but you should stop by every once in a while, it's kinda boring here without someone good to fight. Defeating bandits and simulations just doesn't give me the same thrill as beating something like, say, the Deathsaurer. I'd say you're almost as tough."

They both had a good laugh at this.

"So Van, you going to let me in or what?"

Van's face flushed. "Oh, right, I'll give the order."

No sooner had the words come out of his mouth than the gates opened.

Van's face disappeared and Irvine walked in. As he jumped down from his Zoid, he noticed an all too familiar purple Gustav. This brought a smile to his face for some reason. He felt a lot better about coming here.

--

Van turned to Fiona after he shut off the screen. "Well, Irvine's here, Moonbay's here, all that's left are Raven and Reese."

"You think they'll come?" Fiona asked.

"No clue, I'm not even sure we'll need their help. Herman doesn't want to take any chances though, if we do need their help, they'll already be here."

"Yeah, I guess. It's kind of strange we were able to contact them."

"I suppose, but we shouldn't complain. C'mon, we should go meet Irvine."

Fiona nodded and began to follow him, but she suddenly realized something. "Van, where's Zeek?"

--

Raven looked thoughtfully out into the distance. He wasn't sure of what to do in this situation. He began ticking off the things that would make him not want to go. He didn't want to deal with the Guardian Force, and Van wasn't even his friend.

"What's wrong?" said a voice that was uncomfortably close to his ear.

Raven jumped and whipped around. The thought of Reese being so close sent a shiver throughout his body.

"What was that for?!" he demanded angrily.

Reese was quite pleased with his reaction, and didn't even bother hiding it. "I only asked what was wrong." She said innocently. "But really, you're acting strange, more so than usual."

"You're one to talk." Raven spat, "and it's none of your business anyway."

Reese put on her best puppy dog look, and he gave her one that clearly said 'What the hell are you doing?' either that or 'That's pathetic'. She wasn't sure which, though.

She sighed, Raven had changed somewhat since the battle with the Deathsaurer, but in some ways, he didn't. She had hoped she wouldn't have to do this, but he was being stubborn.

Raven immediately knew Reese had entered his mind, he was about to protest, but, it was calming, even if she was poking around where she shouldn't. It was so relaxing that he just waited for her to say something.

Finally she spoke, "Oh lets just go. We've been traveling around aimlessly for months, it's not like we have anything better to do. You might even get to fight Van."

She didn't seem done yet, so Raven remained silent. "This isn't none of my business Raven, when did you get the message anyway?"

"On the way to this village, you were asleep at the time."

"Oh" was all she could say. _Wait a second, Raven was watching me sleep? I guess he wasn't really __**watching**__ me, but, he did see me sleeping. Interesting…_

The two were quiet for some time; finally, Raven broke the silence. "I guess we'd better get going then."

Reese was surprised at how compliable Raven was being. He wasn't such a bad person, really. _Maybe a little dumb though, I've been traveling with him this whole time, and he still hasn't noticed._

Raven called to Shadow, yet received no response. Reese was suddenly aware that Specula was absent as well.

--

Irvine was led to the briefing room by one of the soldiers. As soon as he walked in, Moonbay, who was already there, hailed him over to a chair.

The only other ones there were the Schubaltz brothers, currently in a heated argument.

"Hey, Moonbay, didn't expect to see you here."

"Didn't you see the Gustav?"

"Yeah, but I meant before that."

"Well, it's not like I can go about my usual business, I'm sorta part of the Guardian Force now. If I wasn't, I couldn't look after MY Ultrasuarus."

Irvine shook his head. _Not that again._ "It's not really yours, you know. Besides, there're no more apocalyptic threats, what's the use of that thing anyway?"

"It's being used as a mobile base, big as it is, and with me as the pilot. And if another 'apocalyptic threat' comes up, what will we do then, hm?"

"Shoot Van out of a giant cannon, of course." He said this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"The giant cannon of MY Ultrasaurus? Hm? Hm?"

Irvine rolled his eyes and said, "Whatever." He looked around, "Where are Van and Fiona? I talked to Van earlier, so I assumed he was here."

"He's here, and so is Fiona, but apparently Zeek went missing and they're looking for him. That's what they told me anyway." Moonbay had a glint in her eye.

_What's she getting at?_ "What do you mean?" Irvine asked suspiciously.

Moonbay giggled. WARNING. WARNING. _Moonbay doesn't giggle, what's going on here?_

"Oh, didn't you know? They're official now, probably wanted some 'alone time', and be away from their duties for a while."

Irvine raised his visible eyebrow. _'The hell is wrong with her?_ "Official what?" Although he had already guessed.

"You know, a cou-"

"Forget it, don't answer, I have a pretty good guess." He didn't like where this conversation was going. His gut feeling told him to discontinue it.

"Give you any ideas Irvine?" Moonbay asked mischievously.

He hadn't expected that one. _EXCUSE ME? That was blunt, and not something Moonbay would say. Maybe she's high or something._ He tried not to show the shock on his face, while thinking of a way to steer the conversation to somewhere else.

"Not really," he replied blandly, "It's about time though; it was so obvious they had feelings for each other. Van should've made a move sooner."

"Actually, it was Fiona."

"Really?" Irvine asked, glad his plan was working. "I thought Van would."

"Why? Because he's the guy?" Moonbay was a little annoyed at him.

"No, because Fiona has liked Van for a while, but never plucked up the courage. Not to mention Van usually meets all challenges head on. I just thought he'd be the braver one."

"What about you Irvine?"

"What about me?"

"Would you be the brave one and ask a girl out first?"

"I don't really think girls are worth the hassle." _Not like I can keep a girlfriend as a mercenary anyway._

"Hard to believe you're still single." Moonbay said sarcastically.

_She's said that before._ "Who says I am?" _HA! Mull that one over Moonbay._

Her expression was priceless, he was almost glad he said it. It had been purely on impulse, however.

"And just what do you mean by that?" Moonbay finally managed to splutter out. "Who is she?"

But Irvine decided to interest himself in the entertaining argument between the Schubaltz brothers. As he watched, he began to hum; the song was strangely familiar...

--

**(I didn't want to put this segment in at first, its not really plot essential, but I thought it was funny. If the majority wants it out, I'll take it out, but if not, I won't.)**

They had searched the whole base with no luck. Zeek wasn't anywhere to be found. Fiona had even tried contacting him with her mind.

Having one last look in the hangar, Van was about to give up hope. Fiona suddenly yelled for him, and he ran towards her voice, to find Zeek, right by the Liger.

"Hey buddy, where've you been? We were really worried."

Zeek only growled and nuzzled Fiona as she pet him. _Hey, I've got a life too._

This made Fiona laugh as Van hadn't understood what Zeek said. He gave Zeek a good pat and said, "We ought to get to the briefing room, I expect Irvine and Moonbay are waiting for us." He stopped for a moment, "Don't disappear on us again, okay buddy?"

Zeek growled again. _It's not like you own me._

Van struggled to make heads or tails of it. He decided it was acknowledgement and proceeded to go to the briefing room. "Let's go Fiona."

"Right, Van. C'mon Zeek."

--

**How was that for a first chapter? Better than the Teen Titans one I hope? I'm not too proud of the first segment, but I didn't know how to start it, bleah. I've already got most of chapter two written down, I just need to type it up. I was originally planning on including more stuff, but I felt like ending the chapter there. I hope no one was OOC, though I think I made Moonbay a bit. I've never gotten a positive review before, so, tell me what you think! GO CLICK TEH BUTTON DOWN THERE! Also, the segment breaks messed up when I was loading the document, I fixed them, but I don't know what the final result will be, meh. I talk too much don't I? This took me 5 hours to write down and type and fix to load, just to let you know.**


	2. Chapter 2

**If you haven't figured it out; author's note, **_thoughts,_ "talking".

**randomcat23 - I said I wasn't too proud of that first segment, and Word didn't show it as a grammatical error, so, meh. Also, I checked the spelling of Zeek, on episode 6; it says "Jump Zeek!" spelled like that, so I'm assuming that's how to spell it. I know the normal spelling is "Zeke". I like your drabbles, they're funny and interesting, hehe, cookies. Thanks for the review, it's much appreciated, sorry I haven't commented on your drabbles, I've only just rediscovered Zoids recently. **

**Sexii Lexii – I'm glad you liked it! Here's a cookie for you!**

**CrazyIrishBitch23 – Thank you very much! I'll take a look at your story, too. I'm going to assume it's about Irvine, yes?**

**Don't worry pplz, I don't have a life, so I will update often!**

**Stuff happens in this chapter, yay!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids, if I did, I wouldn't be writing this, I'd be animating it, SO HA!**

Chapter 2

A young girl stood amongst the sand dunes, hoping to find a sign of life. In her hand was a small chain. She played with it as the voice forever rang in her head. "You're weak, you'll always be weak. Until you get rid of that soft hearted attitude, you'll never be able to kill me."

"How could anyone be so cruel?" she asked the wind. "How could anyone have such a disregard for life and love itself? ...I'm sorry, Rolf."

She turned her back on the fresh row of destruction, an entire Imperial base gone; they hadn't even known what hit them.

As the flames rose higher into the sky, a howl was heard in the distance.

--

Herman walked into the briefing room, surprised to find it already had four other occupants. Two of whom were arguing, another watching them in amusement, and the last looking somewhat upset and bewildered.

"You're all early," he said, finding the situation somewhat entertaining. Everyone except Irvine turned to look at him.

The Schubaltz brothers each gave a salute and a "Colonel Herman, sir."

Moonbay just nodded at him and said, "Colonel."

Irvine was the fist to respond to his comment, "You didn't set a specific time for the briefing."

"No one knew if and when you and the others were coming." Herman replied.

"Others?" Irvine asked interestedly.

"We sent out the same message to Raven, who may be bringing Reese," Karl Schubaltz said.

"What?! Is it so serious we need their help too?" Moonbay was surprised, what could be tough enough that they needed Raven's help?

"I'm afraid we don't have enough information on it yet, all we know is that many Republican and Imperial bases are being destroyed, scratch that, they're being massacred. So far as I know, the only survivor was a young boy about the age of thirteen, who was in the area at the time of the attack. Hopefully he'll be able to give us information on the attacker."

"We're not sure what is causing all this, Zoid or otherwise, but the destruction is almost worse than that caused by the Geno Breaker." Thomas said seriously.

Irvine was skeptical. "What if it was? Raven's done it before, why not now?"

Karl spoke pointedly, "There have been no charged particle traces found at the sites, so it's doubtful. Raven also assisted us in the defeat of the Deathsaurer, he has been our ally since."

"I wouldn't call Raven an ally, and I don't think he'd help us anyway, especially if we needed it." Irvine scoffed.

Herman sighed, "Well, we'll just have to trust him for now. And speaking of allies, Dr. D is coming here after he's analyzed the sites. He'll give us the full briefing once everyone else has arrived. We'll just have to wait until then."

--

Van and Fiona were almost to the briefing room, they had been delayed somewhat by Rosso and Viola, whom they had not expected. But the two had just been passing through on the way Gaigalos. They had all had a nice chat but then the Storm Sworder pilots needed to be on their way.

"Just think what would've happened if they hadn't survived," Fiona said enthusiastically, "I don't think we'd even be here if it weren't for them, all those times they saved and helped us."

"I know what you mean," Van replied, "They've saved our necks more times than we can count, eh Zeek?"

Zeek growled. _Butterflies are interesting._

--

Raven and Reese had almost arrived at the designated base. It was already dusk.

It hadn't taken them too long to find Shadow and Specula, but the circumstances involved were somewhat strange. The two organoids had been together on the outskirts of the village, looking into the distance.

After conversing with them for a few minutes, Reese was able to find out that they had sensed an unknown power, and wanted to investigate. However, it disappeared when they got as far as they did, which is when their owners had found them.

Raven thought this through as they traveled, Reese was asleep again. _An unknown power, ha, this might even be what they need us for. And it has to be battle worthy if it attracts Shadow and Specula's attention._

"Hey Shadow," he said, "Would you mind taking over until we get there? I think I might go to sleep for a little bit."

Shadow gave a low grumble._ Of course I don't mind, get your rest._ He then merged with the Geno Breaker.

Instead of sleeping, however, Raven twisted around to look at Reese. _Hmm, she's really pretty…_ His own thoughts alarmed him. _I'd better not think that again. Or at least not when she's awake…_

Feeling incomprehensibly smug, Raven righted himself in his seat, and proceeded to go to sleep.

Reese opened one eye as a grin was plastered to her face. _Oh __**really**__? So Raven __**can**__ feel…_

Specula heard her master's as well as Raven's thoughts from outside the Geno Breaker, she gave a snort. _Such strange emotions._

--

Van was getting impatient. "Can we start yet?" he whined.

Dr. D was the one to reprimand him. "We're still waiting on Raven and Reese; I won't start the briefing until they're here."

Irvine laughed. "What makes you so sure they're even coming? If you ask me, I'd say they ignored the message."

"Nobody _did_ ask you, Irvine, so shut it." Moonbay told him off.

"Oh, I'm confident they'll be here." Dr. D smiled and pulled up an image on the screen.

There, not even a mile from the base, was the Geno Breaker, coming in at record speed. No one had anything else to say, they simply waited. Irvine did seem a little surprised though.

--

Raven burst in, closely followed by Reese, Shadow, and Specula. All was quiet as the soldier who had escorted them closed the door. Someone was yet to speak, the tension was almost unbearable.

Finally, Reese broke the silence. "And here I thought Raven was tightlipped."

There was actually color in Raven's face. It had turned a light pink color as he glared at Reese. She winked back, causing his face to slightly deepen to red.

Everyone thought this was rather amusing. Now that the mood was lightened, Dr. D clapped his hand together. "Ah! Now, we can begin. Colonel, I think you should give a recap on the recent events."

Herman nodded and stood up. "This meeting was called because several military bases have been attacked and completely destroyed."

Raven narrowed his eyes. _No wonder they were looking at me funny._

"This is of course cause for alarm, and I know what many of you are thinking. Your thoughts are negatively directed at this young man," he indicated Raven, "Evidence we have found disproves of that theory. Not to mention Raven aided us in the fight against the Deathsaurer, he had since been declared our ally."

Irvine coughed.

Herman sat down again and Dr. D continued. "I have visited the destructed bases and studied them, what I have found is slightly disturbing." He paused, looking around to make sure he had everyone's attention. "First, there have been no charged particle traces found at the sites, so any continued thoughts of Raven's guilt should now be discarded."

"There have also been no survivors, save for one little boy who had been passing through. I questioned him at the hospital he has been staying in, and he informed me of seeing a small, red Zoid pass by the base shortly before it was attacked. I have reason to believe that this Zoid was the organoid, Ambient."

The reaction to this statement was that everyone in the room began talking all at once. The most easily heard was of course Van, who shouted at the top of his lungs. "But I thought Ambient was destroyed! Wasn't he inside the Deathsaurer, merged with Hiltz?"

There were several agreements with Van's statement; he seemed to have voiced their feelings.

Raven had gritted his teeth at the word "Ambient"; he hated the organoid more than he hated Hiltz, or even Prozen. Reese rubbed his shoulder consolingly; she knew what Ambient had done to his parents.

Once everyone had settled down, Dr. D continued. "We don't know for sure if Ambient had been merged with the Deathsaurer at the time, even if he was, it's a possibility that he escaped before the Zoid core was completely destroyed."

Irvine was thoughtful, "So what are you saying gramps? That the organoid survived and has been killing off the bases?"

"Not exactly, the boy told me that he saw it _before_ the base was destroyed. That it simply passed by. Now I think that-"

CRASH!

Before anyone could react, a voice on the intercom was heard. "Red alert, base is under attack. Unknown Zoid on the assault. Repeat, the base is under attack, this is not a drill."

Everyone immediately jumped up as Dr. D turned on the screen.

Something that looked uncannily like the Geno Breaker was shown; it certainly looked similar, but was far from a carbon copy.

Herman was the first to recover. "All of you, who have a battle ready Zoid, get to them NOW."

Moonbay couldn't stop staring at the screen. "What on Zi is _that_?"

--

Van, Irvine, Raven, and the Schubaltz brothers, closely followed by Zeek and Shadow, were running flat out to the hangar.

Van managed to talk as they all raced down corridors. "Raven, that Zoid looked a lot like your Geno Breaker."

"I saw it!" Raven spat back. "My Zoid is in that hangar, and I was with you guys. So save your accusations."

"I wasn't going to accuse you, it's just kind of worrying. The Geno Breaker evolved from the Geno Saurer, which was a type of Zoid specially developed by Gunther Prozen."

Raven went wide eyed and ran faster, if it was possible.

"Van has a point," Irvine said, "and if this Zoid's anything like the Geno Breaker in combat…"

"We need to stop that thing," Thomas panted, "It also might be the mysterious Zoid that's been destroying all those bases."

--

Tala sighed; she was too late, before her lay yet another victimized base. _I'm not trying hard enough. So many people have died already because my resolve wasn't strong enough… because I'm weak, just like he told me._

"Rolf, tell me what to do… If I don't stop him, more innocents will be lost, but if I kill him…I'd be doing exactly what he wants."

--

"Raven, can you hear me?! Raven!!"

The Geno Breaker wasn't moving, and Van hadn't gotten any response from Raven. He thought the worst.

"Van, look out!" Irvine yelled, but it was too late, the Blade Liger was picked up in the claws of the attacker and nearly sliced in half. If it wasn't for the shield, that would've been the end of the Blade Liger.

Both Zoids were knocked back, but it was worse for the wear for Van and Zeek. The Blade Liger was severely damaged in several places, if Van pushed it much harder, the poor Zoid would fall apart.

The Unknown Zoid approached the Blade Liger, but before it could finish it off, an Iron Kong jumped onto its back. "NOW, THOMAS!"

"Seventeen Cannon Assault!" The Dibison fire all of its guns at the Zoid, but instead of hitting it, the Zoid did a 180 and the Iron Kong got the full blast instead. It was then thrown off and skidded across the ground.

"Karl! Karl!! KARL!!" Thomas was screaming at the top of his lungs, but to no avail. The Iron Kong was out now too, leaving only the Dibison and Lightning Saix.

"Thomas, don't do anything stupid. You and Irvine have to win this." Zeek had rescued Van and was carrying him back within the walls of the base.

"Yeah, it's just us now Thomas. If you do something rash, then we'll have no chance of beating this monster." The Lightning Saix charged against the Unknown Zoid, but it jumped up on top and smashed open the cockpit.

"Gyah! Let's go Beak! Megalo Max!"

Just as it was about to be hit, the strange Zoid fired a charged particle beam directly at the Dibison, effectively neutralizing the attack. The beam continued on and almost hit Thomas, but another Zoid got in the way.

A metallic noise, like the clinking of a small chain, was heard.

Thomas saw a wolf-like Zoid in front of him, taking the full blast of the charged particle gun, there was an energy shield surrounding it deflecting the beam. He tried to open a link between himself and the wolf Zoid, and found he could only get through by voice.

"Who the hell are you?" Thomas asked.

"You're welcome," a female voice said. "Oh, you might wanna move right about now."

"What?" Then he saw why, the Zoid, who seemed to have forgotten about Irvine and the Lightning Saix, was charging towards them.

"Go save your friend, I'll take it from here."

Thomas really couldn't see how one Zoid could succeed where five had failed, but he agreed, and went over to the Lightning Saix while the mystery pilot was engaging the Unknown Zoid.

--

Irvine felt a jabbing pain in his leg, he tried to move but the pain only got worse. _Man I hope it's not broken._

He couldn't see out his right eye, there was something sticky in it. His forehead was bleeding, which explained why his right eye wasn't able to see. He saw that the Lightning Saix's cockpit had been ripped open, and there were bits of glass all over him.

Outside there was a fierce battle going on between the attacker and another Zoid. Irvine unbuckled himself and tested his leg gingerly; it wasn't broken so he figured he could walk. The Dibison came up in front of him and lowered its head. The cockpit opened and Thomas jumped out. "Need a ride?"

"Haha, yeah I guess so. Who's that fighting over there?"

Thomas helped him into the cockpit, "I dunno, some girl who seems to be able to take on that menace. I've never seen that type of Zoid before though, it almost looks like a Command Wolf, but there are quite a few differences."

"I can see that, but how can she take on that thing when we couldn't? There were five of us to begin with and he slowly took us out. There's only one of her, and there isn't even a scratch on that Zoid."

Thomas got in and they were almost safely behind the gates to the base, but the Unknown Zoid came up and attacked from behind. Apparently it had managed to get away form the wolf Zoid, which was no longer moving. For some reason, instead of finishing the Dibison off, the Zoid turned around and ran away.

Thomas was breathing hard, "What just happened?"

The retreating Zoid suddenly jerked forward several meters, it continued to flee but was slowed somewhat.

The wolf Zoid lowered itself to the ground and the cockpit opened, revealing a girl, who was no older than Van. Her dark brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she had piercing blue eyes and tan skin. Her appearance gave the idea that she was a mercenary, or possibly related to Irvine, or both.

Now that the battle was over, several medics came out to rescue the injured and take them to the infirmary. Thomas wasn't extremely hurt, so he tried to help out in any way he could.

"Would you stop worrying," the girl said as she jumped down from her Zoid, "they'll take care of your friends."

"But my brother…" Thomas couldn't find it in himself to finish.

The girl seemed to alert at the word "brother", she watched as two medics walked by carrying Colonel Schubaltz. "I'm sure he's fine. Heh, you guys are lucky I came when I did, the Tyrant would've annihilated you." She laughed nervously.

"Tyrant?"

"That's what the Zoid's called, a Storm Tyrant, that's why there were little bolts of electricity coming from the claws."

"Huh, I've never heard of it before. Come to think of it, your Zoid is one I haven't seen before either, what is it?"

"A Konig Wolf, the Tyrant was running because he knew he couldn't win, I'd taken the sniper out, and a sniper bullet at point blank range is no joke."

"Really?" Thomas was in a daze and not really listening. "Say, I didn't catch your name."

For some reason the girl hesitated, "It's Tala, Tala Calhoun."

That name was somewhat familiar, and Thomas had no idea why. _Calhoun, where have I heard that before?_ "My name is Thomas Richard Schubaltz." He replied quietly. He then suddenly felt quite dizzy, and keeled over. Instead of hitting the ground, however, it felt as if someone had caught him.

"Thomas, eh? Well, Thomas, we'd better get you to one of those medics…" Tala's voice trailed off and everything went black.

--

**WOOT! Chapter 2! That kind of sucked, didn't it? I made it nearly twice as long as the first chapter, and that last segment was a little weird. Everyone else was being carted off to the infirmary while those two talked. I was thinking of cutting off the entire battle scene and going straight to the next segment, but for some reason I didn't. Raven and Van got railed early on, I was too lazy to write a scene for them, though next chapter there's gonna be a big long segment for Raven and Reese XD. Hehe **

**Anyway, tell me what you hate, so I can change it, I know this chapter needs some serious revising, but I'll fix it later… maybe :P GO ON! CLICK THAT BUTTON DOWN THERE AND REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

**I took both the Storm Tyrant and Konig Wolf from my game, Zoids: Battle Legends, in case you don't know. The Konig Wolf has a visor thing that lets it snipe and the Storm Tyrant is basically the Berserk Fury with claws like the Geno Breaker. I haven't really watched anything but Chaotic Century and Guardian Force, so I don't know when and if those Zoids were introduced.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I updated quicklier this time! Yes, I just made that word up, but do you honestly think I care? Do **_**you**_** honestly care? Well, anyway, I would've updated sooner, but I was waiting for someone else to review, oh well. Enjoy the chapter and the end of my ranting!**

**ShadowRebirth37 – in my game, its actually called Strum Tyrann, but then Moonbay's also called Moonaey, and Schubaltz is called Schwarz, and the Berserk Fury is called Berserk Fuhrer. I just improvised, since the description of the Strum Fury was "Storm unit". It could also be Tyranno, but, meh, I figured Tyrant fit better. I'm glad you liked it, and I took a look at ur fics, I'm not a fan of AU's so, I haven't really read "Broken" yet, but I'll check it out sometime.**

**BTW: this first three segments are going to have Raven/Reese in it, it's considerably fluffy but it's cute, by my standards anyway…SO READ IT DORGAMMIT! **

**Disclaimer: FOR PIKACHU'S SAKE I DON'T FREAKING OWN ZOIDS! OR POKEMON FOR THAT MATTER! BLEAH!**

Chapter 3

Reese had sat there, for nearly eight hours she just sat there, looking at him, tears running down her face. She was trapped in her own little world, the world where she watched Raven, as he slowly healed. The chief medic said that he only had a few broken ribs and some cuts and bruises, but the possibility that he _could have_ died, that he _could have_ been lost forever… it tore her to pieces.

A few times Reese thought someone was talking to her, but she never heard them, not really. Sometimes she would turn and give the person a blank stare, she wasn't seeing them, but was vaguely aware of their presence. Not even Specula could console her.

The only time she had snapped out of this was when Raven began to stir, Reese really thought he'd wake up, but he eventually settled down and continued to sleep.

She held his hand and rubbed it gently, nothing. She shook his shoulder and said his name, nothing. This continued for a few days, Raven was yet to wake up.

But they weren't the only occupants of the infirmary, Thomas had been there the first day, due to fatigue, he had been really worried about his brother. Karl, on the other hand had it the worst; apparently he got a concussion and had internal bleeding. After hours in intensive care, the doctor said he would make a full recovery, but not for a few weeks.

Irvine got off a little easier, he had sprained a leg and the right side of his face was cut up from the glass that fell on it, but other than that, he seemed to be okay.

Van was the only one who walked away scratch-free, Zeek had saved him before anything could happen.

To the great dismay of Reese, Shadow had pushed his limited time in the Geno Breaker and was unable to rescue Raven in a similar manner.

Reese's head bobbed up and down, she had been half asleep for the past two days, worrying about Raven. Specula nudged her and growled. _Get some sleep. Don't worry yourself to death over this guy._

She wouldn't leave Raven's side for anything, but eventually, her body simply couldn't take it anymore. She fell forward and her head landed on his chest. If she had been awake she'd have noticed that Raven opened his eyes.

--

What Raven saw shocked him beyond what he had ever felt before. First, he was in a bed. Second, someone's head was on his chest, someone with bright blue hair. "Reese? Is that you?" His words were a bit slurred and his senses weren't exactly working at top speed.

She didn't move. He assumed she was asleep and left her alone.

Raven couldn't feel anything but the weight of her head, the rest of his body was yet to catch up, he couldn't even feel his hands.

Having nothing else to do, he looked around the room, it was obviously a military infirmary; other beds were there, their occupants asleep. The lights were off, except for those at the door. This told him it was the middle of the night, but questions were raised in his mind.

All he could remember was fighting the Geno Breaker look-alike and then a large blank spot. He must've been knocked out and hurt, which would explain why he was in there in the first place. Suddenly he was aware of something and tried to sit up. It was a bad idea since a great pain in his ribs was felt, and he almost cried out, but one look at Reese and he held it in. It was a miracle she didn't wake up when he moved.

Raven turned his head to the left and was met with a pair of glowing blue eyes. "Shadow!" he said quietly. "You're okay."

Shadow growled softly and nuzzled his face. _You think I die so easily?_

Another growl was heard and Raven turned to his other side, there Specula was beside her master and seemed to be glaring at him. _See what you did?_

He didn't understand, and just shrugged it off.

Specula continued to glare at him, and he glared back. He really didn't know why this organoid was angry at him, nor did he really care, but a good glaring contest was always entertaining. Raven never thought anything was "fun", or at least he never admitted to it, so he labeled a glaring contest as "entertaining", or "amusing".

The glaring continued for quite some time, at least a few hours had passed. Morning had come, and they were yet to quit.

It was only when Reese began to stir did the two cease their game. Raven felt his chest was strangely wet, he then realized that she was crying. Quite without thinking, he reached out and pulled her closer.

--

Reese woke from a nightmare, she had dreamt that the world had ended, that everything, everyone, was gone. Her dream ended with Raven, seeing his lifeless body.

Someone was hugging her now, rubbing her back, and telling her to wake up. She opened her eyes and saw Raven. It was him. To anyone else this side of Raven would have been a surprise, but she knew it had always been there.

"Raven, you're awake." She said with a watery smile, just relieved that he was alive.

_Total flip there, wasn't she just crying? Bah, women, I'll never understand them._ "I should be saying that about you."

"Oh, yeah, I um-"

"Don't worry about it, I… kind of liked it." A blush crept up Raven's face as he said this.

Reese was surprised, she blushed as well. _Did he really just say that?_

There was awkwardness to the whole thing. Raven was still hugging Reese, Shadow and Specula were looking on with interest, and the sound of the door opening was heard. The two scrambled to get away from each other, or, at least Raven did, Reese wasn't all that uncomfortable.

They managed to separate and look inconspicuous just as Moonbay walked in. She went past them and towards Irvine's bed, which was at the very back.

"Considering how you were when I woke up, I'd say you've been here for quite some time? Well, you should get some sleep then, if that's the case." Raven said, he wasn't looking at Reese.

"Is that an offer?"

Raven spun back to face her, stuttering. "W-What?"

"It was a joke Raven." That had been the effect she had been hoping for. "I'll see you later then."

"Yeah, I suppose."

"Get better soon, Raven." Reese then walked to the door.

Raven threw himself onto his pillow. _My ribs hurt._

--

Irvine was still asleep, so Moonbay decided to come back later. She still hadn't gotten over what he'd said before, about not being single.

Just when she was about to get up and leave, she'd heard Raven talking. Moonbay just couldn't leave while they were talking, it was probably something they wouldn't want her to hear, so she'd be interrupting them when she walked by again. _Yeah! That makes sense._

Listening closely, Moonbay heard everything after "you should get some sleep". _Why is it happening to everybody except me?_ She looked at Irvine irritably. _Maybe I should tell him I'm going to marry McMann after all, hehe._

--

Thomas was walking toward the infirmary, he wanted to visit his brother. He didn't really see where he was going, and bumped into someone. It was Tala.

"Oh, um, sorry about that, I just-"

"Don't worry about it, going to visit your brother?"

Thomas nodded.

She smiled at him, "Well, that's nice of you. How long do you plan on staying?"

"Not long, just thought I'd check on him." Thomas was getting a little fidgety, something about this girl made him feel weird.

"Well, I'll be at the cafeteria for a little bit, when you're done, do you want to grab a coffee?"

"Sure, I guess." He felt a strange sense of elation.

Tala walked away, and before she was out of sight, called back to him. "Oh, and by the way, your brother is awake."

Thomas's feeling only increased and he bolted the rest of the way to the infirmary.

Karl was reading a report on the sightings of the strange Zoid, which now dubbed "Storm Tyrant". His brother suddenly burst in, out of breath.

"KARL! You're awake!"

"What's your point, Lieutenant?" Karl was only poking fun at him.

"Oh, be quiet, I visit you every day for a week, and you're still formal with me. I'm your brother for Pete's sake." Thomas walked over.

"Sorry, I had no idea." This was a total lie, Tala had told him before she left. "I was only teasing you, Thomas, and you think _I_ need to lighten up."

"You hardly ever joke, Karl, that concussion must've damaged your brain."

"Probably."

Thomas stared at him. That was two jokes already, definitely a warning sign.

"Are you feeling okay Karl?"

"Perfectly fine, actually, though I'm sure the painkillers have something to do with that."

_OKAY then._ "Well, I've, um, got somewhere to be, so, yeah, I'll come visit you later, alright?"

"Sure." Karl said cheerily.

Thomas made a bee-line for the door and his brother laughed. _She was right, that was fun._

--

Tala yawned, where was he? Surely he would've been freaked out enough and come already. Maybe she misjudged him, though she seriously doubted this, she had a good judge of character.

Thomas suddenly walked in with a bemused look on his face. Tala waved him over and he sat down opposite her.

"So, how'd it go?"

"My brother is acting a little weird, he started joking around. Normally, he's really serious and formal."

"Ha, I know the type; my brother was the same way." Suddenly she didn't look as happy as when Thomas walked in. "It's only when they realize they could've lost it all do they change."

"It's just kind of strange…wait, you have a brother?"

"Had, he died a couple of years ago."

"Oh." _Awkward._ "Do you want me to get some coffee? It doesn't look like you've ordered any yet"

"Sure, no salt."

"Huh?"

Tala brightened considerably. "Never mind," she laughed.

Thomas was happy she was happy, for some reason. Also, the mention of salt made him think of Fiona. _Maybe that's why she said no salt._ Now that he thought of it, Tala and Fiona had been talking over coffee a couple of days back. It made sense, Fiona put salt in nearly everything.

A few minutes later Thomas walked back with two cups of coffee. Tala looked a lot happier.

"So, Thomas, is there anything to do on this base besides drink coffee?"

"Um, well, you could try the simulations; they're fun, sort of. Oh, I just remembered, Herman took you in for questioning, didn't he?"

"Who, that tall guy with the weird hair? Yeah, he did, though it was more of an interrogation."

"What did he ask you?" Thomas was curious to know more about Tala.

"Who I was, what I knew about the Storm Tyrant." She shrugged. "Nothing I wasn't ready to answer."

"Oh, I see."

"In the end, he decided I was alright, and asked me to stick around so I could help you guys fight off that maniac." She took a gulp of coffee.

"What did you plan on doing if he hadn't asked you?"

It took her a little time to think about this. "Follow the Storm Tyrant and try to stop it. This is sort of a vacation for me, though, and I haven't gotten any new leads on the whereabouts of that Zoid, anyway."

"What do you mean 'vacation'? How long have you been following this thing?"

"Too long…" Tala closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair.

Thomas didn't really understand, but he decided not to push it any further. He thought about her reaction when he asked about her brother. _She must not like talking about it._ If Karl had died, he probably would feel the same way.

Tala suddenly got up. "Well, I think I'll go try out those simulations you told me about."

"Ok," he was disappointed she was leaving, but he didn't argue.

"Let's do this again sometime?"

He smiled, "Yeah, that'd be great."

She flashed a grin and walked off, leaving Thomas to sink into his thoughts. He'd never been able to talk to a girl like that before. He hadn't actually sat down and talked to them. Usually, a pretty girl like that, he'd blush and just start stuttering. _Wait a second. Did I just think that Tala was pretty?_

--

**I dunno if you can tell, but I really like Reese/Raven. XD Well, Van and Fiona was obvious, and Irvine/Moonbay wasn't a real shocker either. When I saw the last couple of episodes with Reese crying and stuff, I was like, O RLY?**

**Note that I haven't watched the show in like a billion years, but still. Anyways, even though I said that I don't like fluff, I'm quite interested in romance, not the cliché kind of stuff, either. Now you might get me a little better, that's an accomplishment, people. NO ONE GETS ME. **

**I've decided I want Thomas to be an active character in this fic. Yes, Tala set him up, but only because she likes him. What? It's not like he has a chance with Fiona anyway. : P**

**You'll have to excuse me; I was high on Happy Tree Friends when I wrote this chapter, not to mention that last part of chapter 2, which is why it's so weird.**

**Chapter 4 will be up soon, I promise, also, I'm going to change the title and summary. I WANT MORE REVIEWS, GIVE ME MORE REVIEWS! RAWR!**


	4. Chapter 4

**ZOMG this place is dusty, isn't it? Sorry I haven't updated for over a decade, but, I was busy during the weekend, and I was playing world of warcraft, and blah blah blah. I also realized that I hadn't put much of Van and Fiona in, so here it is people. I hope it doesn't suck as much as I think it does. Well, at least the grammar is good. :D**

**ShadowRebirth37 – thank you for coming back! I'm glad you liked it, I had a really hard time with the Raven/Reese part though, it was rewritten at least five time before I got it like that. I don't think I put nearly as much effort into this chapter, you might not like it. O.o **

**C-Teck – Yippee! Don't worry, I don't mean to push their characters, well, at least not Raven, I think Reese would be fine with it all, lol :P You can only become good with a person's character if you're the kind of person who obsesses, and obsesses, and obsesses. That's me. XD I didn't obsess with Van and Fiona, so this chapter might suck.**

**Kyuubilord – no, no, no, its spelled "yayz" y-a-y-z… lol**

**Read it or die, read it **_**and**_** die. Either way, you die. XP**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids, so sue me. Wait, don't sue me! THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS STUPID DISCLAIMER, YOU TWITS!**

Chapter 3

Rolf glared at the tiny pink thing in front of him. He didn't want to wake her up; he knew he'd get in trouble if he did. But…there was that nagging want to just play, and playing with babies was a lot of fun. Well, he thought so anyway.

He was about to poke the sleeping baby when his mother walked in. She gave a squeak. "Rolf!" He knew it was time to run, and run he did.

Rolf slipped out of his mother's arms and ran as fast as he could to his room. The five-year old scrambled under his bed and waited there. Eventually he heard the door open and footsteps coming towards the bed. A face appeared in front of him.

"Rolf, you can come out now, I'm not mad."

"I'm sorry mommy," he said as he crawled out, "I just wanted to play with Tala."

His mother sighed and sat down beside him. "Honey, your sister is still very little, and needs to get lots of sleep."

"But why does she have to sleep _all the time_?"

"She doesn't sleep all the time, just most of the time. You've gotten to play with her a lot more this week. Remember last week?"

But Rolf just sat there and pouted. After some time, he began to yawn.

"Well, mister, it seems you need some sleep too."

"But I'm not tired mommy."

She laughed. "Of course you're not, Rolf. But if you take a nap, maybe Tala will be awake when you get up."

Rolf then made a big, theatrical yawn. "Okay mommy, I'll go to sleep, but you wake me up when Tala's awake too."

"I'll be sure to do that."

--

It was almost lunch-time, and Rolf was really hungry. He thought he might sneak a cookie, just to tide himself over. But, alas, there was now someone to tell on him.

"You no ea cookies Wolf! We've go do ea wunch fuist!"

"Shh, Tala, you're going to-"

"Rolf! No cookies before meals! You know that."

Rolf looked shamefully up at his mother. "I'm sorry mommy. I'm really, really sorry."

His mother sighed, "Just don't do it again. Lunch will be ready soon."

As his mom walked away, Rolf glared at his sister. "Why'd you tattle on me Tala? You almost got me in trouble!"

Tala stuck her tongue out at him, and then started to make shapes with it. "Tong, tong, tong."

"It's tongue. Why can't you say anything right? My name is Rolf, not wolf."

"WOLF! WOLF! WOLF! WOOF! WOOF!"

"What are you? A dog?"

"Noooooo, I'm, a, wolf! Aroooooooooooo…"

"How do you know about wolves?"

Tala shrugged, she then went to see what her mommy was doing.

Rolf watched her go. _She's way too smart for her own good._

--

Tala yawned, showing her strangely sharp, white teeth. She was waiting for her brother to come home from school, or rather, pre-school. Being only two years old, she couldn't go herself, even though she was almost as smart as Rolf.

He suddenly burst through the door, dripping wet. "Is it raining outside, Wolf?"

"No, of course it isn't." Rolf said through clenched teeth. "And I thought you could pronounce your R's good now, why are you still calling me wolf?"

"I like to call you that, like a nickname."

Rolf wasn't sure what to do, he didn't want to walk on the carpet all wet like this, but he wanted to get into some dry clothes. "Well stop calling me that, I don't like it. Besides, I think it suits you better, that's what your name means, you know?"

Tala's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes, really, now can you go get mom? I want to change, my clothes are all wet and I'm afraid my backpack is too."

Tala went to fetch her mom, as Rolf inspected his bag.

When Rolf was all dry, he asked, "Mommy is daddy home yet?"

"No, but he'll be home soon."

_Later that evening:_

Rolf heard someone open the door. A small figure walked into the darkness of his room. Before the door closed, he was sure he could hear shouting. Then, something crawled into bed with him. "Rolf, mommy and daddy are fighting again. Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Sure, sis, that's fine." Rolf felt his sister curl up beside him, and he patted her until she fell asleep. _Poor Tala._

--

Tala was caught between the wall, and the towering figure in front of her. "Tala, sweetie, it's me, your daddy."

She wasn't quite sure what to do. A body lay a few feet away, and Norman wasn't back home. The shock from her mother's death still paralyzed her.

"TALA, RUN!" a voice yelled.

Something in Tala broke, and she quickly took hold of the situation. Her father turned around towards the voice, which gave her ample opportunity for a well aimed kick.

As he writhed on the ground, she quickly ran to the window from which the voice came from. "Rolf! I can't believe it!"

Rolf was holding what looked like a grenade. He had a surprised look on his face. "Well, I was going to throw a smoke bomb at him, but your plan works too."

Their father was getting back up. Tala looked at her brother, and quickly scrambled out the window. "Throw it anyway, before he catches us!"

As they ran from the now smoking house, Rolf talked rapidly to his sister. "Tala, we cant stay here, he'll just come back and we wont be safe. We've got to keep moving."

"But, what about Norman?"

"He'll be fine."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it."

He ignored her and they continued to run. Tala finally couldn't run anymore, she was too out of breath. "Rolf, we can't survive on our own, we don't have any money, any means of transportation, anything!"

"Wrong, I have money with me; I always have some in case of emergency. And I've got transportation set up." He paused. "I had hoped to show you this on a lighter occasion, but I guess now's as good a time as any."

Tala didn't say anything, but followed her brother to the outskirts of the town. There, behind some rocks, was…nothing.

Rolf climbed up onto seemingly nothing. It was almost as if he was floating. What he was on top of soon revealed itself, however. It was a giant, black wolf.

"Is that…a Zoid?" Tala whispered.

"Ha! Ha! Yeah, it sure is. It's called a Konig Wolf."

--

As they traveled, Tala had the feeling she was forgetting something. Their mother had died… The thought began to sink in, and she was suddenly seized with terror. She began sobbing.

Rolf didn't say anything, he had the feeling they were on the same track. The thought disturbed him as much as it did her, but he knew crying would do no good. Even so, a few tears leaked out while they continued on.

--

"Van?"

"Mmhmm, what is it Fiona?"

"Do you think Herman doesn't trust Tala? Is that why he's given us this mission?"

Van thought for a moment. "No, he trusts her well enough, I think. We just don't know anything about her, aside from her name. Tala Calhoun."

"I don't think he does. If he really trusted her, he wouldn't be sending us out to gather information on her." Fiona glared down at the floor.

"Well, it gives us something to do. Everyone else is still recovering from the fight." He paused. "Even if Herman doesn't trust her, you can't blame him, can you? There were five of us, two had organoids, and we couldn't beat that Zoid. Suddenly, Tala comes out of nowhere and fights off that Zoid easily. I don't care if she's a really good pilot, or if that sniper rifle was at point blank. There are still missing pieces."

Fiona sadly looked out at the desert. "She's not untrustworthy, but she is hiding something. When I talked to her, there were many feelings radiating off of her. Pain, despair, rage…all buried deep, yet all clearly showing. It must be something she doesn't feel we need to know, or it pains her too much to think about it."

Van hadn't known any of this. It didn't change the suspiciousness of the fight, but it did put a different perspective on things. He couldn't think about it now though, they had to focus on the mission at hand. "Unfortunately, the only Tala ever registered was a Tala Dallon, who lived in Gale Colony. The records say that she disappeared 12 years ago."

Fiona just went along with it. "That's right, it also says she was eight at the time of disappearance."

"That fits our Tala…except she said her last name was Calhoun. Anything on a Calhoun?"

"Yes, there are a few. Nora Calhoun, who currently lives in Loramei Valley. Mark Calhoun, he was a soldier in the previous war, MIA apparently. Barry Calhoun, a farmer of the Dune Colony."

"None of them seem to fit…let's take a look at this Tala Dallon, what was her residence?"

"At the time she lived with a Norman Atlas."

--

The man known as Norman Atlas lived in a worn old cottage, someway from the town. He had moved there because his previous home had been destroyed, and he sought some peace and quiet.

Visitors did not often come, except for those who cared enough to check up on him every once in a while. It was a bit of a surprise when two people, both young, came in with a small, dragon-like Zoid behind them.

"Excuse me sir, but are you Norman Atlas?"

Norman nodded. "That'd be me, come in and sit down. From the looks of you, I'd say you were in the military, cant say the same for these others, though." He eyed Fiona and Zeek.

"Heh, well, yeah, we are from the military, and we came to ask you a few questions." Van, oddly enough, was nervous.

Zeek turned to Fiona, but she just shrugged.

"What about?" Norman sat down in a recliner and pulled out a pipe.

"Well, did you know a Tala Dallon?"

The man stared at Van for the longest time. Finally, he sighed and leaned forward. "I haven't heard that name in twelve years, son. Haven't seen Tala herself either. I assume you have met her, or are possibly chasing after her?"

"The former, however, the Tala who is currently allying with us said her last name was Calhoun."

"Yap, that sound about right. It was her mother's name, the kids both took to it, it seems. I don't blame 'em. After what their dad did…" Norman shook his head.

Before Van could say anything, Fiona asked, "Kids? Did Tala have siblings?"

"Aight, lemme start from the beginning. Tala and her family used to live way up north, beyond both the Republic and Imperial territories. Her mom an' dad had a, falling out, you could say. So, Elizabeth left her husband and brought the kids down here. Elizabeth is Tala's mother. Well, I'm Tala's stepdad. Had a right fun time with those kids, she had a brother, Rolf. They used to prank me bunches, wouldn't say they thought I was father to 'em. Anyways, a peaceful six years goes by, but after that, their dad came and found them. Killed Elizabeth, but those smart kids managed to get away from him. I wasn't home at the time, and when I get back, the house is up in flames." He paused every so often while telling them this.

"I haven't seen the kids since, but, I did get a call, 'bout three years ago. I was asked if I knew Rolf Calhoun, they told me his body was found in the desert. This gave me reason to believe Tala was still alive. Poor thing though, she loved her brother more 'an anything else in the world." Norman rambled on for some time, adding bits that made absolutely no sense.

Eventually, Van and Fiona decided that they should be going. Zeek was still listening attentively and Van had to bonk him on the head to get him to leave.

"Fiona, is it just me, or was that guy slightly, you know, out of it?"

"I think he was traumatized by his wife's death, if we can believe what he told us. Some of it still doesn't make any sense though." Fiona frowned.

"Oh well, lets just go back and report what info we've gotten."

This was surprising. "Are you sure Van?"

"Yeah. It's odd, that Herman doesn't trust Tala enough so that we need to dig stuff up. After he checked the registration records on the liger, he seemed ok with us. Irvine and Moonbay, too. It's not as if he went around asking people about us. Something's fishy about this whole thing."

Fiona nodded and smiled. "You're finally using your head, Van!"

"Uh huh, yeah, I- wait a sec."

Zeek let out a growling laugh as Fiona ran towards the Blade Liger. Van decided to give chase.

--

**This chapter was a little weird, I think. All of the stuff before Van and Fiona were flashbacks, so, meh. I've got nothing much more to add, this was a boring chapter and you all had to wait almost a week for it. :P This is my raw draft, that's my explanation for as to why it sucks, I didn't revise it. Haha, I'm really tired right now, g'night all. **


	5. I'M BACK FROM MY HIATUS!

**Holy shit, I haven't been to this place in over a year. I apologize profusely, but one thing led to another and I suddenly couldn't find the time to keep updating this thing. I only just remembered it this past summer (when I had time again to do it), but never got around to it. I just recently came across it while doing some housekeeping. I found my old half-filled notebooks with this written it and so I came and looked up my account again. Lo and Behold! There it was. I realized just how proud of this fic I was and discarded the idea of abandoning it (which I had thought about doing). I will not, however, be able to update it regularly since I am in the middle of writing an original story that I am posting elsewhere.**

**I will also be writing chapters 5 and onward from scratch (aside from the actual plot-stuffs, which has already been laid down). I may or may not be editing the first four chapters for things such as grammatical errors and story-alterations. Unfortunately, I'd be optimistic in saying I could get this up and running again in less than a couple of weeks.**

**Though the original story I am writing doesn't really require research it does take some serious meditation and such before I put it down in writing. (The whole idea of the story was for some peer suggestions on facebook/ at school). I am also having trouble with that story anyway because homework interferes with everything. The year's only just started, so stuff is pretty hectic. I got homework up to my ears on the first day, which is rather cruel if you asked me. But no one did.**

**So, it can probably be expected that I will not update till after my birthday (which is in a little over two weeks, hooray!). Till then, don't wait in breathless anticipation for me to continue the story (or do, if you **_**really**_** care that much, which I doubt you do).**

**That's all for now. I'm putting this on both my profile and as a new chapter for the story. It will likely be removed from the story after the people who actually care read it.**


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